Churches

Alloway Auld Kirk, the ruined old church at Alloway dates from the 16th century, though the site could be much older. It is most famous now due to it being featured in Robert Burns' poem 'Tam o' Shanter' (1791), as the place where witches and warlocks gather. The churchyard is fascinating and includes the graves of Burns' father, William Burnes, and sister, Isabella Burns Begg. Combine with a visit to the Robert Burns' Museum, his birthplace, Burns Monument and Brig o' Doon.

Brightling is a tiny village in the Weald, surrounded by lovely countryside and other tiny villages. There are two reasons you might want to visit. Firstly, it has an attractive church, dedicated to St Thomas à Becket, which was actually mentioned in the Domesday survey.  So, given that Thomas was murdered in 1170, the church was obviously originally dedicated to someone else, possibly St Nicholas.  The current building dates from the 13th century and among its features are some good brasses, 17th century wall paintings (biblical texts) and a rare barrel organ.  The second reason to visit Brightling is to see the large stone pyramid in the churchyard.  This was built as a mausoleum for John ‘Mad Jack’ Fuller (1757-1834), the local squire.  Fuller was an eccentric, drunk, Member of Parliament, plantation and slave owner, philanthropist, patron of the arts and science (he supported JMW Turner and Michael Faraday) and builder of follies.  Local legend was that he had been buried in his pyramid seated at a table in full evening dress with a bottle of claret but, sadly, that was shown to be untrue.  Among his other structures are a ‘temple’ in the grounds of his house, Rosehill (now Brightling Park) next door to the church, an observatory (now a private residence), an obelisk on a local hilltop, ‘sugar loaf’ (no idea, sorry) and a tower – which is easily accessible a short walk across fields south-east of the church.

Carfax Tower is all that remains of the 12th century church of St Martin's Church, the official civic church for the city situated at the centre of the old medieval town. St Martins was demolished in 1820 after the building had become unstable, but the 13th century west tower was spared. The replacement church wasn’t around for long; it was pulled down in 1896 when the road was widened and, again, the tower was spared.

The name ‘Carfax’, or ‘carfoukes’ in older English, is said to be derived either from the French ‘carrefourges’, ‘carrefour’ – or ‘crossroads’ – or from the Latin ‘quatuor furcas’ - ‘four forks’. So ‘carfax’ refers to the location; technically, the tower is St Martin's Tower. A climb to the top (it is 74 feet high) provides wonderful views over the city. And no building in central Oxford is permitted to be built any higher than Carfax Tower. On its east side is a copy of the old church clock, with mechanical ‘quarterboys’ hammering out each quarter hour.

Coombes Church is perched on the side of a hill on the edge of the small farming hamlet of Coombes. Mentioned in Domesday, both the church and tiny community date from Saxon times. The name may be older. Apart from the charming location, the church is famed for its astonishing medieval wall paintings, dating from 1130, which were discovered in 1949. It is a real treasure, set in the South Downs National Park and not far from Shoreham

Culross Abbey was founded by Malcolm, earl of Fife in 1217-1218 as a daughter house of the Cistercian monastery at Kinloss. The abbey church was built soon after, with work continuing into the 1300s. The abbey had a reputation for producing fine books, but monastic life came to an end with the Reformation of 1560. The choir and presbytery of the abbey church were taken over as the parish church, but most of the abbey buildings fell into ruin, so little remains. What there is is fascinating, however (including a climb up a ladder into the remains of the vaulted refectory). The church itself is cruciform and contains several items of particular interest. Probably the most impressive is the Bruce Vault, built in 1642, which houses the marble memorial to Sir George Bruce, builder of Culross Palace, and his wife. The memorial includes eight kneeling statues, representing the couple's children, in front of the memorial. There are also the effigies of a knight in armour and a lady, John Stewart of Innermeath, Lord of Lorn, and his wife, dating from 1445 but badly defaced during the Reformation.

There are rumours of ghosts.  And a legend of a tunnel beneath the abbey, where a man in a golden chair sits waiting to give valuable treasures to anyone who succeeds in finding him.